Your Next Computer Will Be Virtual

Imagine a relatively inexpensive, light, thin-client device that accesses your data center from anywhere. Is this a dream? We’ve seen examples of this in science fiction for years. Well, folks, it’s just around the corner!

Imagine a relatively inexpensive, light, thin-client device that accesses your data center from anywhere, takes on the image of a typical desktop, provides all the appropriate data and applications you need throughout the day, and then reverts instantly to the proverbial tabula rasa when shut down—or when the power goes out. And, since no data is stored on the device, there is no risk of having proprietary data fall into the wrong hands if the device is lost or stolen. Even if that device is one of those tablets everyone was talking about at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) a week ago.

Is this a dream come true? According to Logicalis, an international provider of integrated information and communications technology (ICT) solutions and services,the answer is yes, the virtual desktop interface (VDI) can be just that.

Logicalis’ virtualization expert Bill Parker says

Quoting  begins VDI is changing the way people are thinking about the desktop … There will always be a need for conventional desktops, notebooks and even tablets for specific users, but VDI has matured to the point where it requires organizations to take a hard look at what it can provide…not just a cursory glance. Quoting  ends

Five Reasons Your Next Desktop Will Be Virtual

(1) Hard-Cost Savings. Thin clients cost less, they last longer (six to seven years versus four years for a notebook) and they consume a fraction of the energy of a desktop PC (as low as 6 to 7 watts for thin clients vs. 150 watts for PCs).

(2) Ease of Management. Thin clients are easier to patch and upgrade, and they have slower generational changes than PCs, so you’re not swapping out newer versions all the time.

(3) Centralized Backups. When using virtual desktops, everything is backed up centrally, which is easier on data center operations and eliminates local drive issues. This makes sense for tablets as well, since they are often shared among multiple users for specific functions, like presentations.

(4) Regulatory Compliance. Since all the data and applications are centralized, VDI makes it vastly easier to enable and enforce processes and procedures to ensure security, privacy and other best practices.

(5) Productivity Gains. VDI encourages telecommuting or remote working, which contributes to higher productivity, better morale and lower office space expenses, while decreasing demands on help desks; if there are problems, it’s easier to troubleshoot standard images and integrate applications with standard hardware — plus, end users need less training with standard images.

Logicalis’ financial analyst, Dave Kurtz says:

Quoting  begins VDI creates a more complicated and more textured IT environment than data center server virtualization does, but one that will produce higher rates of return over classic virtualization once the soft costs and benefits are factored in … VDI reaches deeper into a company, so you have to look at both the hard and soft costs, exemplified by user benefits, to see the whole picture. Quoting  ends

Logicalis is bullish on VDI, but warns that VDI isn’t for everyone, at least not yet. To be successful, you need to be very selective in the users you choose to bring into the VDI model.

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To learn more, read “Virtual Desktop Gets Real” (PDF FILE)

Logicalis is an international provider of integrated information and communications technology (ICT) solutions and services founded on a superior breadth of knowledge and expertise in communications & collaboration; data center; and professional and managed services.
      Logicalis Group employs over 1,900 people worldwide, including highly trained service specialists who design, specify, deploy and manage complex ICT infrastructures to meet the needs of over 5,000 corporate and public sector customers. To achieve this, Logicalis maintains strong partnerships with technology leaders such as Cisco, HP, IBM and Microsoft.
      The Logicalis Group has annualized revenues of $1 billion, from operations in the UK, US, Germany, South America and Asia Pacific, and is fast establishing itself as one of the leading IT and Communications solution integrators, specializing in the areas of advanced technologies and services.
      The Logicalis Group is a division of Datatec Limited, listed on the Johannesburg and London AIM Stock Exchanges, with revenues in excess of $4 billion. logicalis.com